Bike Locks (A public service announcement)
Shane F Ruland
Somebody had some questions about Kryptonite bike locks, I just thought I
pass along this info:
The U shackle locks offer about the best protection currently available,
but there are two things that are very important to remember when using
one.
1. Buy the shortest possible "U" shackle that you can possible use
with your bike. While the long "mountain bike" shackles seem
really convienient they are easily broken. How?
The most common way of breaking these locks is with a simple (and
extremely portable) automotive bottle jack. You simply place it
between the flat portion of the shackle and the "U" Five seconds
and minimal bike damage.
Moral to the story: When the lock is on the bike there should be
no room to put any kind of lever or jack.
2. Buy one of those brass sleeves to put on the lock, It you can't
find one, make one. It doesn't really have to be strong but it
just save your bike. How?
Thieves can simply cut the plastic coating on the bottom of the lock
find the retaining pin for the lock cylinder and drill it out. If
they can't find it easily (i.e. covered by a sleeve) they won't bother
trying to drill.
Just my $0.02 And no I have never stolen a bike. Just wanted to
make sure nobody steals yours.
sru...@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu 92'Trek9000 (Cheryl)
92'Ninja (Homer)
Torsten Lif
British "New Cyclist" recently had an informative article on what they
called the "lock scandal" or something similar. Get it if you can (I
can dig out which issue it was).
They took a number of bike locks to a specialist who broke or picked
them all easily. Among the easiest were ALL Kryptonite models because
(hold on to your seats) ANY lock with a cylindrical key of that style
can be picked in seconds with the plastic cap from a cheap ballpoint
pen...
---
Torsten Lif | Big cars are a Freudian
Ericsson Telecom AB, EO/ETX/TX/AD | compensation for their drivers
S-126 25 STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN | own perceived inadequacy.
Tel: +46 8 719 4881 |
wils...@vax1.bham.ac.uk
>
>
> The U shackle locks offer about the best protection currently available,
> but there are two things that are very important to remember when using
> one.
>
> no room to put any kind of lever or jack.
>
> find one, make one. It doesn't really have to be strong but it
> just save your bike. How?
>
>
a magazine in this country Britain manageg to destory ALL the leading brand
locks in SECONDS. They did not use any of those high tech methods such as
freezing agents - just good old fashioned well directed force. Keep watching
this space for some good news on the most survivable lock, if I can find the
magazine
Richard Wilson @uk.ac.bham
Theodore Chen
the reon alarm lock. it has a 110 dB alarm that sounds if
the cable is cut. sounds pretty good if you have a bike on
campus where people are more likely to pay attention when
the alarm goes off. cost is around $50-$60. i might get one
for my bike. (haven't been using my cannondale MTB to get around these
days, what with all the 'dales being stolen around here in the
past month. nobody notices my boysenberry-colored raleigh road bike.)
-teddy
wils...@vax1.bham.ac.uk
is Mountain Bike Uk's survey of u-locks.
Some of these are British makes:
wieght(kg) rating out of 5 Min time
Kingfisher Long Shackle 1.059 1 7.5min
Oxford Sentinel 1.916 2 2 min
Ultralock .749 1 30 secs
Krypronite 2000 1.006 3 n/a
Citadel XW 1.000 2 4 secs
Abus 43 hb/110 1.368 2 n/a
Abus Granit 1.337 3 n/a
TRELOCK TITAN 1.342 4 n/a
All these locks were broken by nothing more than brute force !
All were tested in a public place in a simulated robbery - no one blinked an
eye !
Hints to prevent robbery:
1) Fill the lock with your front wheel, more railings - to prevent good access
2) Hide the mechanism - make it difficult fo reach the lock
3) choose your location well, keep it public, you never know someone may
actually realise what the thief is upto. Better still lock it so that you can
see it.
See ya later
Richard
Ralph Yozzo
I don't know about how things happen on the west coast, but here in
New York City, if the criminal can't steal your bike, he smashes it into
a hunk of twisted metal. Personally, my guess is that these are the
same people that go up and down the street smashing car windows for the
fun of it. (I guess that if you own no private property, you have no
respect for it.)
--
Ralph Yozzo (yo...@watson.ibm.com)
From the beautiful and historic Mid-Hudson Valley area of NY state
Otto-Ville Ronkainen
>In article <1992Nov25.0...@leland.Stanford.EDU> tede...@leland.Stanford.EDU (Theodore Chen) writes:
>>the reon alarm lock. it has a 110 dB alarm that sounds if
>>the cable is cut. sounds pretty good if you have a bike on
>>campus where people are more likely to pay attention when
>>the alarm goes off.
>New York City, if the criminal can't steal your bike, he smashes it into
>a hunk of twisted metal.
And what about if your alarm goes off without apparent reason at 4 am
in a peaceful neighbourhood (even better if you are elsewhere). Sure,
you'll get attention, but your bike might not survive it.
--
Ott-Vill R______________________
o...@snakemail.hut.fi
Dave Van Horn
>They took a number of bike locks to a specialist who broke or picked
>them all easily. Among the easiest were ALL Kryptonite models because
>... ANY lock with a cylindrical key of that style can be picked in
>seconds with the plastic cap from a cheap ballpoint pen...
Sure, with enough skill. Having tried my hand at picking cylinder locks,
I can attest that even with the proper tools it requires skill and practice
far beyond what most thieves will bother to invest. The handful of
"specialists" who can do this trick I don't worry about.
Torsten Lif
This raises an interesting question: Who's the typical bike thief? Is
(s)he a casual "spur of the moment" -type who finds a poorly locked
bike and wanders off with it or is (s)he a calculating professional
with a set of tools comprising everything from a hydraulic jack to a
thermos of liquid nitrogen?
Here in Stockholm, bike shops have been raided by thieves who broke the
windows, cut open the metallic security grilles and wandered off with
tens of Kleins and Cannondales before the cops arrived (they did not
even bother to disconnect the alarm). Is anybody with the speed,
manpower and ability to pull off something like that deterred by a bike
lock? Apparently not, judging from the reports of bikes stolen outside
people's homes and in their garages (cars were left untouched...).
The point is: I believe most bike thefts are conducted by thieves who
are skilled specialists. I don't say that most thieves are skilled. I
believe that a skilled handful perpetrate most of the thefts. To these
specialists, the false security people get from wasting money on locks
with wellknown defects is a godsend. "Look, another bike with just a
Kryptonite lock. Get out the Biro..."
If the thief is really determined, (s)he will walk off with any bike
that's not inside a bank vault. If the lock is really tough but the
bike is sufficiently high-end, they will cut the frame apart to drag
the bike off and scrap it for the other components. All that the user
can do is to slow the thieves down by forcing them to use as many
different tools as possible. Using two identical locks is a waste of
weight and money. If the thieves have to carry both a tool for prying
open a sturdy U-lock and something to cut a hardened wire cable,
they're more likely to pick that other bike over there with only one
lock. :-/
I read in a recent article that New Cyclist (the magazine that
published the story about how easy most locks were to break) have been
accused by the locks industry of helping the thieves by telling them
"trade secrets" on how to steal bikes. Another case of urging "security
through obscurity". The question is: who's likely to remain uninformed
the longest, the thieves or the trusting public?
---
Torsten Lif | "This is your brain"
Ericsson Telecom AB, EO/ETX/TX/AD | "This is your brain on the pavement"
S-126 25 STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN | "Wear a helmet!"
James W Gourgoutis
One of the things that REALLY BUGS ME TO NO END is when I walk around
campus and see REALLY EXPENSIVE bikes (like 'dales, kleins, etc., with xt
componentry) locked up by the front wheel only. Or, locked by two spokes on
the front wheel. If I had an evil heart, I could just clip 2 spokes (easily
replaced) and have a $1000 bike. Or even just take the bike and leave the
front wheel, which is cheaply replaced (compared to the price of the whole
bike). DON'T THESE PEOPLE REALIZE WHAT THE PURPOSE OF A FRONT-WHEEL QUICK
RELEASE IS?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?! I have a feeling that most of the bike thefts in
the world are a result of poorly-locked bikes.
It makes me mad, since I have an old road bike and a cheap MTB, and I
have to scrounge for every last cent that I spend on these bikes, I take care
of them very well, and in general, I am very anal about my bikes. And then
there are these people that spend $1000 on a bike, just so they can show off
on it, and they barely ever ride it, let alone maintain it. I guess that
they figure that if it gets stolen, Mommy & Daddy's insurance will cover it, or
that they will buy them a new toy. It just makes me mad!!!
Whew! I had to get that off of my chest!
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
James Gourgoutis
Mechanical Engineering O
University of Pittsburgh _ /__,
e-mail me at: JWG...@unixd.cis.pitt.edu (_) /(_)
or JWG...@vms.cis.pitt.edu
Thanks! "Why am I so late? It took me
25 minutes to decide which bike
to ride!"
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
--
Andrew Conway
>
> [ stuff deleted ]
>
>This raises an interesting question: Who's the typical bike thief? Is
>(s)he a casual "spur of the moment" -type who finds a poorly locked
>bike and wanders off with it or is (s)he a calculating professional
>with a set of tools comprising everything from a hydraulic jack to a
>thermos of liquid nitrogen?
>
>
>The point is: I believe most bike thefts are conducted by thieves who
>are skilled specialists. I don't say that most thieves are skilled. I
>believe that a skilled handful perpetrate most of the thefts.
This may be true in Stockholm. Here in the USA, we do not have the
same social saftey net as you do. There is a vast underclass of
people with little or no possibility of any self respect without
money, or of any money without crime. Within an hour's walk
of my house there are probably thousands of kids who would steal
my bike in an instant if it was not securely locked. The sheer
number of amateur theives outweighs the greater effectiveness
of professional bike theives.
>
> [more stuff deleted]
>
>---
> Torsten Lif | "This is your brain"
> Ericsson Telecom AB, EO/ETX/TX/AD | "This is your brain on the pavement"
> S-126 25 STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN | "Wear a helmet!"
> Tel: +46 8 719 4881 |
Andrew Conway I'm not paranoid.....
aco...@bofa.com ... they really do want to steal my bike
Andr...@aol.com
Barry Sanders
>In article 52...@microsoft.com, dav...@microsoft.com (Dave Van Horn) writes:
>>Torsten Lif writes:
>If the thief is really determined, (s)he will walk off with any bike
>that's not inside a bank vault. If the lock is really tough but the
>bike is sufficiently high-end, they will cut the frame apart to drag
This may seem a bit off the subject, but as the owner of both a Medici
and a Cannondale bike, I have replacement insurance for both of them. I know
I can't keep someone from stealing them, so I plan for the worst scenario.
(It costs me $120/yr for $20,000 of coverage for all of my personal possessions)
>the bike off and scrap it for the other components. All that the user
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>can do is to slow the thieves down by forcing them to use as many
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>different tools as possible. Using two identical locks is a waste of
>weight and money. If the thieves have to carry both a tool for prying
>open a sturdy U-lock and something to cut a hardened wire cable,
>they're more likely to pick that other bike over there with only one
>lock. :-/
I agree totally. Although U-locks are sold under the premise that they are
indestructible, they are not. They only make it somewhat more time consuming
to steal a bike so protected. I hate them. I want something better. I think
I'll design it and sell it...
neil j.cherry
>In article <1992Dec3.1...@ericsson.se> etx...@eos.ericsson.se writes:
>>
>> [ stuff deleted ]
>>
>>This raises an interesting question: Who's the typical bike thief? Is
>>(s)he a casual "spur of the moment" -type who finds a poorly locked
>>bike and wanders off with it or is (s)he a calculating professional
>>with a set of tools comprising everything from a hydraulic jack to a
>>thermos of liquid nitrogen?
>>
>> [description of bike theft in Stockholm deleted]
>>
>>The point is: I believe most bike thefts are conducted by thieves who
>>are skilled specialists. I don't say that most thieves are skilled. I
>>believe that a skilled handful perpetrate most of the thefts.
>
>This may be true in Stockholm. Here in the USA, we do not have the
>same social saftey net as you do. There is a vast underclass of
>people with little or no possibility of any self respect without
>money, or of any money without crime. Within an hour's walk
>of my house there are probably thousands of kids who would steal
>my bike in an instant if it was not securely locked. The sheer
>number of amateur theives outweighs the greater effectiveness
>of professional bike theives.
>
>>
>> [more stuff deleted]
[ Sirens blaze, lights flash, a voice comes over the load speaker and says:
This is the net police, please take this over to rec.bicycles.soc
A sudden change of voice, a squeaky little voice says (with no load speaker):
Thank you.
And now we return you to reality. ;-} ]
Sorry the above is to satisfy the net police. But to further the theft idea
a neighbor of mine once stole a 5 year old Dept store 10 speed. Now this 10
speed had been basicly destroyed. No brakes, the handle bars were bent, the
wheels wobbled terribly, the chain was warped, and the seat would twist with
each thrust of the legs. For weeks many peoplle knew who did it but refused
tell me who did it. I was puzzled who would have wanted it. I had given up
on repairing it.
BTW I accidently found out who stole my bike. I was playing a game of soccer
when the neighborhood bully went and smacked me on the side of the head. I
lost all control and his name became mud. At the time I didn't know he was the
neighborhood bully, but I was the neighborhood coward. Someone got up the
courage to tell me he stole it. Strange!
NJC
DL Powell
Not so long ago I had my bike stolen by a 'pro', It was well locked
so when I get my hands on the basket and ring his(her) neck I'll let
you know.....
~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~
Daniel Powell,
Higher National Diploma In Computer Studies,
Univeristy Of West Of England (Bristol).